Little Lion Girl
by sixxon
Summary: Nepeta Leijon has secretly been protecting the streets as The Disciple ever since her power to change into any kind of cat has matured. One day she stops some thugs from mugging a boy whom she later finds out is her long-time crush Karkat Vantas, who is now adamant to find out who the Disciple really is. (art by Xamag, Katnep fic, T for language, rating may go up depending)
1. Our First Encounter

Chapter 1:

Today was going to be my first day off in a long time, but unfortunately for me, crime doesn't just stop when I need some down time. I had been on my way to get groceries for my sister and I, when I saw them. Two thugs rattling someone for change, and the boy who looked to be the victim had been wearing my schools uniform.

I quickly ran up into the nearest tree, pulling off my uniform coat and putting on my jacket and mask. After a few moments in the tree, I realized that it would be best to just scare off the boy's attackers, and not beat those two into the ground like usual. I hastily morphed into a massive lioness and hopped down from my perch, right between the victim and the attackers.

I snarled at the two thugs, barring my fangs at them to make them back away. The two men screamed like children as then ran from me, and once they were out of sight, I de-morphed back into my usual form to check on the boy I protected. I couldn't make out much of him through my mask, but he had straw-like black hair and appeared to be terrified, probably of me.

"I'm the Disciple. Tell me, are you hurt? Did they take anything from you?" I asked routinely, avoiding the use of cat-puns.

"N-no!" The boy shrieked. "I mean, n-nah, I could have handled those pompous douchebags, obviously. Also, no, they didn't take anything." He said more calmly, even though his voice was gruff and… vaguely familiar.

"Good. If you need help again, call me here." I said, handing him a card. "And if your phone's dead, be sure to just scream really, really loudly." I smiled, even though the boy couldn't see it.

"Thanks, I guess." He said offhandedly.

I nodded curtly before hopping up the side of the building and onto the roof, changing back into my uniform before jumping off the roof and landing in a nearby bush with a loud crack. I groaned at the impact, as a cat I may always land on my feet, but as a regular high school girl? Almost never. In fact, most people knew me as the clumsy girl, the one who couldn't even be trusted to _walk_ with scissors, let alone run with them. I didn't mind though, it was easier to hide my identity that way. At least my wounds healed faster.

I had been born with the power to turn into any kind of cat I wanted, my mom always told me to keep it a secret, even from Meulin, my sister. Ever since she died, I stayed true to my promise she made me make; to never, no matter how dire the situation, tell anyone about my gift. She told me that one in every two million people is born with a gift, and I was lucky to get one, even if I didn't think so. I mean, the chances that I would ever run into someone like me was even worse than one in a million odds, so I always felt like I didn't belong, no matter how many friends I made.

Looking up again, I realized that I was finally at the store. Smiling, I walked in, skipping my way over to where the milk was, not paying attention to where I was going. I noticed how big of a mistake that was when I crashed into someone and fell right on top of them.

"AH! I'm so, so, so, so sorry!" I squealed, pulling myself off of the boy I ran into and offering him a hand. When he looked up, I recognized him as my classmate and long-time crush, Karkat Vantas. My face flushed a violent red at the realization.

Karkat swatted my hand away and picked himself up, brushing off his pants. He sighed, "Nepeta, of course it was fucking you. How many times do people have to tell you to watch where the fuck you're going?!" He growled.

I stepped back a little and laced my hands together. "Sorry, Karkitty, I'll be more careful." I said quietly, not quite meeting his eye.

"Whatever." He muttered under his breath. "Oh, by the way, you know those fucking ridiculous comic strips you do for the school newspaper?" He asked, and I looked up sharply, Karkat never spoke to me about my comics, he always thought they were dumb.

I nodded at him. "The one's about the Disciple?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't notice me wince.

"Yeah, is she, you know, real?" He asked, scratching his cheek.

"W-what makes you ask?" I said nervously, hoping I could avoid answering.

"Because I swear I just ran into some fucking lion girl who looked like the character, she even had our uniform skirt too." He explained.

This was not good, on a scale of things that were amazing, this was definitely so low on the scale it didn't even exist. I had hoped using my alternate persona as a character for the schools weekly comics would make it seem less believable to others. Not only that, but now that Karkat was the one I had saved- not to mention he noticed that his "savior" was in our schools uniform green skirt- I was freaking out inside.

"Nepeta are you okay? You look a little pale." Karkat said, regaining my attention.

"I-I'm fine! I've just been feline a little sick lately, that's all." I lied. "But uh, to answer your question, yes I think she's furry real, well she's real to me, but in reality…" I laughed nervously. "I made her up." I lied again.

"Uh-huh." Karkat said, eyeing me as if I were a building that might collapse. "Any way I need to pay for my shit, so see you tomorrow." He said, walking over to the cash before I could respond.

_I hope he didn't see right through me_. I thought to myself.

_**Hey I hope you guys like this now fic I'm working on, I also wanna thank you so much for reading the first chapter! Please feel free to leave me suggestions for this story, or even things that you think would be interesting. Also I don't mind if you have corrections you think I should make, in face, please let me know and I'd be happy to see if I can do something about them.**_

_**~Chris **_


	2. The Missing Brother

Chapter 2:

When I got home I put my bag by the door and began to put the groceries away when Meulin walked into the kitchen.

"Why are you home so late?" She signed to me with a worried expression.

"I had to get groceries, remember?" I signed back. "It took me a while to find the chocolate milk you like."

Meulin squealed in joy as she pushed past me to get into the fridge, pulling out the brand new carton of chocolate milk and running back up to her room, screaming "Thank you." A little too loudly.

I laughed to myself, she was always so happy over little things; it made me glad to have her as a sister. She even took care of me when our mom died, despite her inability to hear. I was only twelve when Meulin lost her hearing. She had come home crying because her headphones weren't working anymore, no matter how loudly she played her music, only to find out that it wasn't her headphones that were broken. She had actually shattered her ear drums listening to a song her long-time boyfriend, Kurloz, had written her. She had weak ears to begin with, and since we don't have money for a trans-plant, she might never be able to hear again.

I hummed a tune to myself as I began cooking dinner. I imagined myself in a recording studio as I chopped vegetables, and pretended I was on stage at my own concert while I grilled the salmon. I loved to pretend I was famous while I cooked, but I knew I looked ridiculous, and never did it in front of anyone but Meulin; not even my best friend Equius had seen me do it before.

I stopped my tune when I heard my 'work' phone go off with a harmony of meows.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, this is the fucker you saved in the alley today." The boy, Karkat, said.

"Oh, are you in need of assistance?" I said, trying to sound business-y.

"Well, no, not really, but can you meet me somewhere, I want to talk to you."

"Not really?" I asked. "If it were an emergency, then I would gladly meet you." I explained, even though I would have actually really loved to see Karkat again today.

"Actually, now that you mention it, it's a really big fucking emergency!" He said hastily. "Yeah, my brother is missing, it's a huge fucking mess here because none of us can find the dick squatting shit mouth and my sisters are flipping their shit."

"Kanaya and Porrim are not the type to 'flip their shit.'" I said without thinking, silently screaming for him not to have heard me.

"How do you know my sister's names?" He said suspiciously.

"I make a point to know about the people I save, and the people who live in my town, Mr. Vantas." I said, hoping it would be a good enough cover. "That; and I have caller I.D." I added.

"Well just, fucking meet me at Skaia High then, I'll be waiting there." And with that, he hung up.

I sighed, thanking whatever god that was watching over me for saving my sorry behind. I quickly ran upstairs and signed to Meulin that she had to cook the rest of tonight's meal because I had to help Equius with his English homework. She nodded and smiled at me.

I ran back downstairs and tore off my uniform jacket, putting on my olive green coat over my black crop top, and pulling on my black fingerless leather gloves. I swiftly pocketed some of my finger daggers and pulled my white cat mask over my face, dashing over to the high school.

When I got there, Karkat was sitting under the school sign, fiddling with his phone. He hadn't noticed my arrival yet, even though I stood right in front of him. I could still barely make out his features through my mask.

"Vantas." I said, acting angry. "This better be important, I don't like being dragged out to play tag." I added, crossing my arms for effect. I hated being so rude, especially to him, but it couldn't be helped.

Karkat jumped at his name. "It's very fucking important. I told you, my shit nozzle of a brother didn't come home." He said.

"You better not be lying just so you can get another look at me." I said menacingly. God I hated this. I sighed. "Fine, I'll help. Do you have anything of your brothers with you?" I asked.

"No, why the fuck would I?"

"Fine, then I guess you'll have to get something of his so I can sniff him out."

"But my house is so fucking far!" He groaned.

I shrugged, I really wanted to help him, but how was I supposed to if I didn't have Kankri's scent to sniff him out? "I'll take you on tiger back, but _only_ because it's dark out, and you have to promise not to pull my fur." I bargained.

Karkat nodded as I shifted into a snow tiger. I turned my head back to face him, motioning for him to get on with my head. Hesitantly, Karkat climbed up onto my back; I felt like purring. I gave a soft huff to get his attention, and when I did, he looked at me with fearful eyes. I couldn't help but snicker softly.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me you fucking ass-wad! I've never ridden on a tiger, excuse me for being frightened." Karkat huffed. "Just go straight, I'll tell you when to turn." He added.

I nodded and began a slow jog straight ahead. I felt Karkat sink lower and wrap his arms around me for safety, and I had never been more content. Sure he was rude about how he called for me, but that was just who he was. He was worried about his brother, even if he didn't want anyone else to know that. I think that that was the reason I had fallen so hard for him; he was a really good person behind the front he put up, and not many people seemed to realize that behind his everlasting dictionary of curse words. In my eyes, I just didn't see why people couldn't like him.

"Take a left; it's the sixth house on the right with the obnoxiously red front door." Karkat said, voice muffled by my fur.

I stopped a few houses away and sat in the bushes while Karkat went in to get something of Kankri's. I noticed that Karkat's house was actually really close to mine; in fact, it was right down the street.

A few minutes later, Karkat came bounding out of the house with a red turtle neck in hand. He walked over to my place in the bushes and placed it in front of me. I quickly changed into a cheetah, knowing that, as a tiger, my sense of smell would be incredibly poor, compared to a cheetah's, which had a phenomenal sense of smell. I leaned down and sniffed the fabric and shot back up, sniffing around for Kankri's scent. When I caught it I motioned for Karkat to follow.

Kankri smelled like hand sanitizer, which- though the scent had always burned my nose- was good, since it was so distinct compared to Karkat, who smelled like cherries and hair dye. The scent led me well past the school and down Dancestor drive, which I felt seemed sort-of odd. When I realized that Kankri was inside the first house I stopped and changed back, starling Karkat.

"Sorry." I said quickly. "Your brother's in there, do you know this house?" I asked.

"Yes." Karkat groaned. "This is that douche-shit Cronus' house."

Cronus, I knew him, he was Eridan's brother. I was wondering why Kankri might be here, when I heard a soft moan coming from the house, which I knew Karkat wouldn't hear. I started to laugh; Karkat had dragged me out to find his brother, who was hooking up with a guy I could have sworn everyone disliked.

"W-why are you laughing! What the fuck happened?" Karkat near shouted at me.

I stopped laughing and wiped the tears out from under my mask, making sure not to lift it too much. "I'll explain on the way back, c'mon." I said.

"So, you're telling me, my ass-wad brother, who has a chastity vow mind you, was hooking up with Cronus Ampora? The one and only pompous crotch jockey of my school?" Karkat asked, still not believing me.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And by the way, just because he vowed to not have sex doesn't mean he won't do other things." I said, wiggling a finger at him. "Anyways I need to get back, so, no more crying wolf, okay?"

"Wait." Karkat said quickly. I turned to face him. "Tell me your name."

I sighed. "That would defeat the whole 'disguise' thing, my name to you, and anyone else, is the Disciple. If that won't do, just call me T.D."

"Alright, see you, T.D"

"See you Karkit-" I stopped. "Karkat." I corrected, that was close.

I ran down the side walk past Karkat's house, hopping a fence so no one would see me go through my front door. I guess the finger daggers I brought were useless, but I had fun anyways. Luckily Meulin was up in her room, blaring a movie that she couldn't hear. I hid my mask and jacket back into my backpack, and then heated up my dinner.

** Thanks for reading again guys! I hope you like this chapter, please review, I'd love to hear all your opinions on this new chapter.**

** ~Chris**


	3. School House Shooter

Chapter 3:

The next day at school was as normal as it always was, except that for the first time in my life, I was dreading art class. Not because it was art class, but because Karkat sat next to me. On any normal day, I would be ecstatic to be sitting with Karkat for seventy minutes. However today, I was likely to be bombarded by questions from him, all of which would be about the Disciple, my "fictional" character.

"Nepeta, are you alright?" Equius fretted, gently placing a hand on my shoulder.

I jumped a little at the surprise. "I purromise I'm just fine Equius, I told you befur, I've just been feline a little sick lately, nothing big." I lied, Equius always bought my lies. He nodded at me and I smiled back, he was so protective.

"We have arrived at your class, Nepeta, I'll be leaving now." He said; formal as always.

"Alright, see you later!" I said, giggling and hugging him before dashing to my spot in the art room.

Luckily, Karkat wasn't in class yet, so I took the advantage to pull out my sketch book and continue my portrait of him. It was our current project; we were assigned partners- or, assigned to the person next to us, rather- and had to do a full-body portrait of them. I was ecstatic to have Karkat as my partner, and because now I had an excuse to make a portrait of him. I had drawn him before, but never while he was in front of me, so they didn't really look much like Karkat.

Before I knew it, Karkat was sitting next to me, trying to get my attention. I flinched at the sudden noise and turned to face him.

"I need to be able to see you to do this stupid fucking project." He started. "Today was supposed to be my day to draw you since you started drawing me yesterday, or did you forget, like you usually fucking do?"

"A-ah, right, no I didn't forget." I said, bushing my sketchbook aside and turning to face him, not sure quite where to look.

I sat awkwardly in front of Karkat for a few minutes before he noticed my tension. "Stop fucking making that face you look ill, calm the fuck down alright?" I nodded and sighed, relaxing my muscles. "So, Nepeta, tell me more about that character, the Disciple, what's she like?" He asked.

My face felt like it was on fire. I knew he was going to ask, but I had totally forgotten about the whole "answering" part.

"W-well…" I started. "She's athletic, smart, very business-y, to the point…" I faded off; it really felt like I was just praising myself.

"I met her again yesterday evening, the Disciple, she said for me to call her T.D." He explained. "I mean, I figured since she's _your_ fucking character you would know what the hell her name is or some other back-handed shit like that."

"O-oh, so, what do _you_ think of her, since you said you met her." I said, feigning enthusiasm as best I could.

"Kinda fucking scary, to be honest. Also she's really intimidating." He answered. "Are you sure you don't know her real name? I know she goes to our shitty-ass fucking school, so that's one thing."

I laughed nervously, crossing my ankles. "No, I don't, I purromise."

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Karkat screeched. "Don't move your legs, goddammit, Nepeta." He said getting up and walking over to me.

Karkat gently grabbed one of my legs and put it back into the right position, before he stopped. My face was burning up as he grabbed my other leg and inspected it.

"You have, really fucking defined leg muscles." He said bluntly. "How the hell…"

"U-uh, Karkitty?" He looked up at me. "C-could you let go of my leg?" I said awkwardly, face probably redder than a tomato.

Almost immediately Karkat dropped my leg back into its proper pose and backed up, stuttering an apology, face blooming with a light shade of pink. I sighed in relief, placing my hands back onto the edges of my stool. I was completely embarrassed; I had never had anyone, let alone a guy, look at my legs like that. To make matters worse, I was even, maybe, a little flattered. Especially since he didn't comment on the new stubs of hair I had growing.

"Uh, anyways, what are you planning to do for the next T.D comic in that poor excuse we have for a school newspaper?" He asked.

"Well I hadn't thought about it, maybe her helping a lost little boy or something?" I offered, hoping it was far enough from what had happened last night for him not to notice. After all, I didn't want to stop using my adventures for the comics just because of what was happening with Karkat. Karkat hummed and continued his work.

Just before the bell rang Karkat stopped and walked over to me with his phone in hand. I looked up at him curiously. "What? Add your number. If we don't work after class I'm never going to finish this idiotic fucking assignment."

I nodded quickly, adding my name and cell number to his contacts. Karkat thanked me and walked out and to his next class. Fortunately for me, I had the last period off, so I dashed out and ran home to drop off my things and change into my Disciple clothes.

I had been sitting in the shadiest part of town for almost half an hour, usually I can at least catch a mugger in that time, but today there was absolutely nothing. I sighed and lay back on my tree branch. I had almost fallen asleep when I heard police sirens blaring. I shot up to a crouched position, watching the car wiz by in a fury. I finally had something to do.

I followed the car all across town, and when it stopped I noticed it did so at my very own high school. Just as the panic hit me, my work phone rang, it was Karkat.

"Hello?" I said.

"Get your fucking ass over to Skaia high!" Came Karkat's muffled yelling. "Some ass-crack with a gun has the school in lock down." He added in the same tone.

"I'm already here, I followed the cops; do you know where the person with the gun is?" I asked quickly.

"People are saying he's in the math hall, and moving to the sciences hall. Those are in the West wing, by the way." He said quickly.

"Thank you." I said, hanging up the phone and putting it in my side pouch.

I quickly climbed down from the perch in my tree and crawled my way up onto the roof of the building, sliding effortlessly into the vent shaft. I quietly made my way to the sciences hall, spotting the man with the gun instantly. He was tall and wore a black ski-mask; how cliché. Discrete as I was, he spotted me crawling atop the lockers.

"Hey, look it's a little kitty." He snickered. "Go home or I'll shoot you, today's not the day to be playing hero."

Before I could respond, I saw one of the doors open and a few kids came flooding out, presumably trying to escape. _Idiots_. I thought. I recognized one kid though, that was John Egbert, which is when I realized that he was in Karkat's- and Equius'- Biology class. The masked man turned to face the kids, holding the gun up to the one he was closest to; I took this as my opportunity to attack.

I flipped off the top of the lockers and quickly hopped again to land a smooth butterfly kick right into the back of the shooters head. When he got back up, I pulled out my finger daggers, one between each finger. He came at me from the front, I pushed my daggers into each of his shoulder joints and used his weight to flip over behind him as I pulled the daggers back out. I crouched behind him and kicked his feet out from under him, upper-cutting him in the lower back with my daggers as he went down.

This time the man didn't get back up, he laid on the floor bloody and groaning. I pocketed my daggers, whipped my slightly bloodied hands on my bare torso, and leaned over him.

"Eat a dick." I said sweetly, taking the gun he dropped and tucking it into the back of my skirt as I walked away. The idiotic shooter still had the safety on it too.

Before I could make it out of the student's sight, one called me back.

"T.D!" The voice called. It was Karkat.

I half turned to face him, still somewhat in a battle stance. "Don't thank me." Was all I said before hopping back up on the lockers and into the vent shaft for my quick escape.

**Hey, thanks for reading the new chapter. I hope everyone liked it too! I'm considering doing a chapter in the future using Karkat's POV, but I'm not so sure, let me know what you think about it I guess? It probably won't be the next chapter, but let me know what you guys think.**

** ~Chris**


	4. This Little Finger

Chapter 4:

"Equius!" I whined. "I purromise I'm purrfectly fine." I pouted. "I wasn't even in the school when the crazy gun guy was there." I reasoned, lying.

"Nepeta, I am just concerned for your safety. Besides, I was told that a young lady with knives took him down, so please try not to go anywhere without someone else." He said.

I scoffed. "I'll be fine, Equius! I can handle myself."

"Yesterday you were too busy skipping to notice the door you were going to was closed, and I had to take you to the nurse, yet again." He tapped his foot, impatient.

"Oh, purrlease. My nose didn't break, so no harm done. And I don't visit the nurse _that_ often." I shrugged.

"I don't know, Nepeta. I think I'm with Equius on this one. I saw that girl and she was pretty scary." Feferi interjected.

"Not you too, Fefurry!" I whined.

"Yes, me too." She giggled.

This happened every time something dangerous happened in town. All my friends would take Equius' side and insist that I should be watched over. It happened when Gamzee ran out of weed, and even though I insisted I would be fine, they ignored me. Gamzee was fine again, but Equius was _still_ wary of me being near him, regardless of the fact that Gamzee went nuts over two years ago.

I picked up my tray and walked over to the trash, throwing out my four empty milk cartons and half-finished plate of what was supposedly spaghetti and meatballs. I didn't manage to pull one hand out fast enough though; my pinky got squished by the metal flap of the garbage can. I yelled out and Equius was immediately by my side, bless his soul.

"Nepeta, what happened?" He fretted.

I held up my now slightly crooked pinky to his line on sight and almost immediately he grabbed my other and hand hauled me off to the nurse once more.

"It looks like a fracture to me." Ms. Maryam, the nurse, said to me.

I whined. "How long until it heals?"

"Probably a few weeks, less than that if you avoid using your left hand." She said sweetly. I loved Ms. Maryam; she was always really nice to me. "For now though, I'll have to get you a makeshift cast." She added, proceeding to dig through some drawers.

After a few minutes, she pulled out some medical tape and two Popsicle sticks. She took my hand in hers and pulled my ring finger and pinky together. First she taped the sticks diagonally to the front and back of my two fingers, then putting a few layers of tape around them.

"Thank you again, Ms. Maryam." I smiled.

"Any time, dear. Now, remember to go straight to a doctor after class."

I gave Ms. Maryam a mock salute and a smile before heading out to Equius, who was right next to me as soon as the door opened.

"What happened?" He asked quickly. I could see that he was sweating profusely from worry, just as he usually did when I got hurt or looked down.

"Just a minor break in my pinky." I said, wiggling my two tapped fingers in his face. "No need to worry."

"I would have preferred to hear about something nicer, Nepeta." He said honestly.

"Oh well." I giggled. "I'm late for art so I'll text you later tonight!" I said, running down the hall away from him.

When I got to class, Karkat was tapping his pencil impatiently on the desk. I rushed over to apologize.

"Karkitty, I'm really sorry, I was with the nurse and had to get a make-shift cast for my finger," I said holding my two fingers up, "so who's drawing who today?" I said, hoping he would forgive me.

"Can you even fucking draw with a broken finger?" He asked, caring about if I was okay in his own way, until he recognized that I didn't mind and straightened himself out. "Y'know whatever, I guess I'll just keep fucking drawing you then."

"Oki-doki, Karkitty." I said, smiling and getting into position on my stool.

"By the way, how did your class handle that stupid lockdown yesterday?" He asked.

"Oh I don't have class last purriod, I thought you knew that." I explained. "I was furry worried about efurryone, but I'm glad you're all okay." I smiled.

"Well we wouldn't be if T.D hadn't shown up and kicked the shit out of that ass with a gun." He sighed, adjusting his sketchbook on his lap. "It was pretty cool; everyone in my theater class was talking about it. Even our shitty school newspaper is doing a story about it, well they asked me because I fucking called after her, like a dumbass, as if she'd come back just because _I_ fucking called her out, she probably pissed at me for that actually. Being a fucking superhero or some shit, I had expected her to come back, say it was no fucking problem for her to beat the fucking nuts off that guy, but she just turned around and was like "No, fuck you, don't thank me", well, I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea. Also the paper wants to talk to you about it, even though you weren't even fucking there. It's probably about your comics or some shit."

I sat there silently; Karkat had never spoken this much to me before. I knew that he had a habit of rambling, but this was the first time I had ever heard it first-hand. After a minute or so of Karkat staring at me for a response, I cleared my throat.

"Well, I'm sure she's furry busy, being who she is and all. It's cool that our papurr is doing something on her too, but I don't think I need to talk to them." I smiled, scratching my head.

"Yeah, she can do whatever the fuck she wants, I guess. I wouldn't worry much about the newspaper though, it's a pointless pursuit, in my opinion. I just wanna find out who the fuck she is. I know that she goes to our school, I know that she's strong, athletic, and a little fucking rude too." I held back a squeak at his last comment.

It wasn't like I actually _liked_ being mean to people, especially Karkat; I had to so that no one would suspect me of being the Disciple. Apparently Karkat saw my distress and raised an eyebrow.

"What's that for?" He asked, referring to my clenched face.

"Well, I mean, how do you know she's a little rude? Maybe she has to be so that no one recognizes her?" I said, mentally smacking myself in the face.

"I guess you're right." He said, scratching his chin.

After that, neither of us spoke, we just sat there and did our work, and when the bell rang, neither of us said goodbye to the other.

**Thank you for reading! Please don't forget to review and stuff, let me know what you do/don't like stuff like that. Thank you all for your continued support on Little Lion Girl. **

** ~Chris**


	5. These Unexpected Changes

Chapter 5:

I was inspecting my new cast as I sat up in a tree, waiting for some work to do, when I saw Karkat walking below me. It was odd, he should have still been in biology, why was he in the most dangerous part of town? I elected to follow him, but he didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular. I usually would have assumed he was visiting Gamzee, but Gamzee had moved to the next town over to get a fresh start in school.

As Karkat wandered, I followed silently, my face getting sweaty under my mask. When Karkat sat down on a bench, I climbed higher into my current tree and pulled my mask off to air out my skin, only to have it slip from my hands and clatter loudly to the ground below. Karkat stood and walked underneath my tree, grabbing the mask and inspecting it. When he realized what it was, he look up at me, and I looked to the sky, averting his gaze.

"T.D? Is that you?" He shouted.

"Toss my mask up." I said bluntly.

"No, fuck that. I've been trying to figure out who you are ever since I fucking met you, so come down here and look at me." He replied.

"_Tch."_ I couldn't do that. Didn't he even read comics? Doesn't he know what happens when a hero reveals their identity?

I shifted into a small house cat, hopping down from my perch and hissing at Karkat. My threat would have been a lot clearer if my left paw didn't hurt like crazy; I did break my finger, after all. Instead of backing away, or giving me the mask, Karkat picked me up. I flailed in his arms, but his grip just grew tighter. Under normal circumstances, I would be over joyed, but right now wasn't the time.

"Cut that the fuck out!" He shouted. "I'll put you down once you change back."

I looked around; I couldn't change back, not here, not with people in the street, not with my identity on the line. I looked up at Karkat with the biggest, most pleading sad face I could make; while Karkat seemed to blush, he didn't relinquish his hold on me. I gestured to the people on the street with my paws as he looked down on me.

Seeming to get my message, he sighed. "Oh, right, there's fucking people on the street, I guess I'm just used to it now, but it would be ass-fucking backwards for you to change form in the middle of the fucking day in front of a bunch of idiots." He said. I meowed at him.

Karkat looked down on me and frowned, he knew I wasn't turning back anytime soon. I was sure that if I hadn't been a cat, I would be blushing like an anime school-girl. Karkat shrugged and picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. I tried to get his attention to give him a questioning look, but he didn't even glance at me. Karkat turned on his heels and walked back in the direction of the school.

After a while, I realized that Karkat was taking me to his house, not the school. After panicking internally for a good five, ten, minutes on Karkat's bed, he finally spoke up.

"Okay, now I know there's fucking no one in my room, so hurry up already."

I lifted my nose in the air, meowing defiantly at him.

"Listen, I just wanna know who the fuck saved me, and if you actually go to my fucking school, since I did see you wearing my schools uniform skirt, which you probably can't even fucking own if you didn't go to my school, or our school I guess. Y'know, whatever, just change back into a fucking person." He said, flailing his arms about dramatically.

I snickered, or, what would pass as a snicker in cat language.

Karkat immediately turned to me. "Hey! Don't fucking laugh at me!" He shouted.

I shrugged and hopped up onto his desk, pressing on his keyboard with my front paws, hoping he would understand me wanting to type to him. Thankfully, he did, and opened up a new word document. I typed as carefully as I could.

**Karkat, give me my mask back.**

"Change back." He reasoned.

**Did you ever read comics when you were a kid? If you find out who I am, you can get killed.**

"I actually didn't, but I know the clichés. Also it's not like you've made any fucking enemies, T.D. Well unless you count that douche-licker at school, but he's in jail, so fuck him."

**That's not my point.**

"Y'know, as a fucking cat you can type pretty well, even if you are slow."

**Karkat, that's beside the point. The only reason I'm a cat right now is because of tou.**

"Tou?" He questioned.

**You.**

"Oh." He sighed. "So, fucking change already then."

**Fine.**

I typed, grinning to myself. I hopped off the desk and onto the floor so I'd have enough room and not break anything. I shook out my fur and changed into a massive black cougar, looking up at Karkat to see him fuming, he was practically a step away from releasing steam from his ears.

"That's not what I fucking meant and you know it, T.D!" He yelled.

I sighed and changed back into a normal house cat. Defeated, I crawled underneath the mess of blankets on Karkat's bed, curling myself into a ball. At this rate I would be stuck as a cat forever. I decided it was best to change back soon, and under the blankets too, that way he wouldn't be able to see my face. Once I finished changing, I pulled the blankets tightly over my head. They smelled just like Karkat; cherries and hair dye.

"Give me my mask back now." I said firmly, trying to intimidate him.

"Can you take my fucking comforter off your head?" He asked.

"No."

"What do you mean _no_?" He asked.

"No." I said again, more firmly. Karkat groaned in frustration. "I don't want you to get hurt." I added honestly.

For a moment, there was an awkward air around us, only breaking when Karkat finally spoke up. "Unless you're mirror-breaking ugly, I'll be fucking fine. Besides, I promised myself I'd figure out who the hell you really are." I shifted my weight awkwardly and Karkat sighed. "Look, it may not seem like it, but I'm actually almost a pro in Karate. I'm a red belt, so I can defend myself." He said proudly.

"I'm a first degree black belt." I said quietly.

"Y'know that doesn't actually fucking surprise me, considering that I've seen you fight. But my point is that I want to help you, kinda, I guess, I mean, it'd be really cool if I could find out who the fuck you were and if I know you at school, or could get to know you, but, I fucking guess if you don't need the help or some shit it doesn't matter. But I'd still like to help you, Jesus, T.D."

I laughed. I guess what people said was true, he really did ramble a lot. It made me feel bad though, he was so determined, and normally I'd be motivating him to try even harder, but this was different. I didn't want to risk anything happening to Karkat, I did love him after all. He just wanted to get to know the Disciple better, he wanted to help me. Though, if he found out, school would start being weird for both of us. All Karkat saw me as was an inconvenience; I was the clumsy girl who was usually late, always walking into closed doors and braking her fingers on trash-bin flaps, completely useless except for my art skill. To him, I wasn't even on the same level as the Disciple, who turned into giant felines and could win a fight with a man three times her size in less than five minutes. We were polar-opposites to him.

"Just give me my mask, Karkat." I said quieter.

"Take the blanket off your head." He countered.

I tapped my cast on my leg, feeling the cool metal of it on my skin. I had almost forgotten it was broken in all the excitement; at least the pain was gone. Karkat wasn't going to give the mask back without finding out who I _really_ was, and I couldn't just leave with his blankets wrapped around me either. I really was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Right now, telling him was my only, and probably my best option.

I stuck my left hand out of the blankets, showing him my cast.

"What happened to your finger?" He asked loudly.

"It's funny actually." I smiled. "I get injured a lot. I broke it today and had to see the nurse. I was there so long I was late for class; I even made my best furend late beclawse he was so worried. How lame right?" I said, tucking my hand back under the blankets.

I heard a few footsteps; they stopped right in front of me. There was a small tug on the blankets from Karkat; I let him take the sheets off of me. I looked down at the floor, not wanting to look at Karkat in the eyes. He was silent.

"It's not what you expected, right? It's the polar opposite of what you expected, isn't it. The clumsiest girl in school, the girl who most don't even trust to hold scissors can wield daggers like a pro. Nepeta Leijon, the art girl, the cat loving moron, is the Disciple, who could have ever guessed?" I spat. "It's probably late, so just, give me my mask back and let me go home, please." I sighed, putting my good hand out.

"I'll walk you home." He said simply. I looked up at him, teary eyed. "Uh, I mean, if that's cool with you. Like I get it if you don't wanna fucking walk with me or some shit, hell I don't even know where the fuck you live."

I sniffled and rubbed the tears out of my eyes with my wrists. "It's okay, it's not like it's a far walk." I smiled. "Thanks, Karkitty."

"Uh, here." Karkat said, handing me my mask. "Sorry." He said awkwardly.

"Right." I said, putting the mask on the side of my head. "I'll go out the window; you purrobably don't want your siblings to know that I was here." I said weakly.

Karkat nodded at me as I hopped out the window, leaving his room to meet me outside.

* * *

** Hey guys! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I had it written a few days ago but FF was being a bitch about loading the document into my account, let alone loading the site. I hope you all like it and I thank you for reading my story and letting me share a little piece of my fantasies with you.**

** ~Chris **


	6. Questions and Proposals

Chapter 6:

It had been two weeks since Karkat found out who I really was, and in that time we hadn't exchanged many words. Every art class we would sit and do our work, and even though I occasionally caught him looking at me outside of classes. He always seemed worried about something, it really bothered me. I tried to ask Sollux- one of Karkat's close friends- what he was so worried about, but he said he "didn't give a shit" so I left the issue alone for a while.

According to my friends Tavros and Feferi, I shouldn't be too worried about it. Equius however felt differently. He told me that Karkat was not worthy of my thoughts because he was stressing me out, I obviously protested.

I was sitting on my bed working on my art project, when my phone went off. The number was unknown.

**From: Unknown Number**

**HEY, IS YOUR FINGER HEALED YET?**

_That's strange._ I thought to myself.

**To: Unknown Number**

**:33 Who's this?**

**From: Unknown Number**

**SORRY. IT'S KARKAT.**

I yelped at that, almost dropping my phone. It was times like this I was thankful for Meulin's deafness. I added his number into my contacts immediately.

**To: Karkitty!**

**:33 Oh, hi there Karkitty! My finger is just fine, I heal fast. **

**From: Karkitty!**

**THAT'S GOOD. I HAVE A PROPOSITION FOR YOU.**

**To: Karkitty!**

**:33 Oh? What's that?**

**From: Karkitty!**

**IT'S A LOT TO FUCKING TYPE; CAN YOU MEET ME BETWEEN OUR HOUSES?**

**To: Karkitty! **

**:33 I'll leave right away! :33**

With that last text, I shoved away my art supplies and hopped off my bed, getting dressed as fast as I could. That meant I was stuck with my backup black crop top and some grey jeans that I was surprized they still fit me. I quickly wrote out a note for Meulin that I was headed to the library- a total lie- and put it up on the fridge so she'd see it.

When I got out the door, I saw Karkat waiting just a few houses away, looking in my direction with the same concern on his face that he'd had for the past few weeks. I ran up to him and smiled.

"You rang?" I giggled. "What's your purroposition, Karkitty?"

"Okay, before you say no, or not happening, hear me out?" I nodded. "Okay, so since I found out about your, whatever the fuck it is, alternate persona? Whatever, I've been worried about how the hell you can manage it on your own, like since your so fucking clumsy and shit, though that hardy matters, I mean I have seen you fight before. You're really good at fighting, don't get me wrong, it's badass but-"

I cut him off. "Could you get to the point, purrlease?"

"Oh yeah, that. So, in exchange for not telling anyone about this, uh, thing of yours- which Equius would probably fucking kill me if he found out I knew- I want to become your apprentice."

I laughed. "Karkitty, I think that's called blackmail. Also, you don't need to be too worried about me; most people aren't willing to take on any cat in existence. I know I can be purity clumsy, but I'm really fine, and I don't want you to get hurt." I explained.

"No, no, no, that's the fucking thing, if I become your apprentice, then you won't need to worry about defending my pitiful fucking ass, and I can help you with, whatever you do."

Well, I supposed that not needing to defend Karkat _was_ in my best interests. But then again, Equius would get suspicious if I suddenly started hanging out with Karkat, even though he probably knew I loved him. Not only that, I didn't want to leave Meulin home on her own; she was a little empty headed at times, once she set our stove on fire because she forgot she was cooking and felt like watching a movie. That wasn't an experience I wanted to repeat if I could avoid it.

"That is, a furry good point. But I'm not too sure; I'm also furried about what Equius will say. He purries about me a lot, and vice versa." I explained.

"You don't actually have to do everything that jock-strap tells you, you know that, right? Also I get why he fucking worries, I mean you're out beating the shit out of thugs after school and on weekends. Who wouldn't be worried? I mean I bet your parents worry more than fucking anybody."

"Equius, he, doesn't know…" I said. Trying not to bite back my next words, I spoke quickly. "And I don't have parents."

The look on Karkat's face was instant regret as he tried to form words to apologize, but I waved my hand in his face and smiled at him. "It's okay; that was a furry long time ago." I said reassuringly.

"Are- Okay." He said awkwardly. "So do you want to go to somewhere else, it's weird standing in the middle of the fucking sidewalk." He asked me.

I nodded enthusiastically, knowing exactly where I wanted to go. I pulled Karkat by the arm and guided him. "There's a pawsome bakery I go to after I work, you need to try their cream puffs!" I exclaimed.

* * *

After ordering and getting our things, Karkat and I sat down in a booth by the windows. I swore that I could have started purring at any moment, it was almost like we were on a date. I wanted to squeal with joy.

"Oh yeah, I was wondering," Karkat began, "why the fuck did you choose 'The Disciple' for your title."

"Ah, well, when my Mom was alive, she told me bed time stories about this Amazonian woman called The Disciple who lived with jungle cats. I pawsitively loved them. She told me that she was my great, great, great, great, grandmother, or something like that." I giggled. "I don't think that's true, but my mom did know about my gift and she helped me control it. So I chose that name to remempur her."

"I guess that makes sense. I was just wondering because with that name it sounds like you're serving someone for whatever fucking reason, but now my theory just sounds really fucking ridiculous." Karkat said, taking a bite of his cream puff. "Holy fucking shit." He said before swallowing. "This is amazing how the fuck did you find this beautiful haven of baked goods made by unicorns and rainbows?"

I laughed. "I caught a purrse snatcher for some girl last year and she gave me some coupons for the place as a thank you."

"That's cool as shit, do you always get gifts for saving people's asses?"

"Nefur, I try not to accept gifts, but the woman said she couldn't use them and was going to throw them out anyways." I smiled fondly at the memory.

"Ah, I see. So, now, explain to me why the fuck that sweaty friend of yours doesn't know, who does know anyways?"

"Equius doesn't know beclaws I don't want to get him hurt. I would nefur efur want him to get hurt for my sake. And as fur people who know, that would be just you, Karkitty. Not even my sister knows." I explained, embarrassed.

"Fuck, really?" I nodded, finishing off my hot-chocolate. "Oh, are you done?" He asked.

"Yep." I said enthusiastically. "Let go home now." I smiled.

"Sure thing, just, don't fucking forget to think about my offer." He cautioned me. I smiled and nodded as we slid out of our seats and began our walk home.

* * *

**Hey, thank you for waiting! I've been having a small block with this story and writing in general since I've had to deal with some personal issues and ignorant people. But thanks for reading anyways. Also I'll be going on vacation soon for about a week and a half. I won't be able to write but I'll definitely be doing more research on the characterization of each HS character I'm considering including in this story, as well as some research on types of wild and tamed cats.**

** ALSO! A big thank you to ****_**Asispeakwords****_** for noticing my short comings in terms of plot and the characterization of Nepeta. I will try and re-read as many of Nepeta's chat-log's as I can, as well as read the wiki and other sites for her character. She's one of my favorites so I really wanna stay true to her character's personality.**


	7. NOT AN UPDATE OR A NEW CHAPTER

** This is **_**not**_** an update. Feel free to ignore this but I have some issues I'd like to address.**

**1: **I'm still on hiatus for writing and maintaining my fanfictions. The reason for this is that I am, in fact, a high-school student, and have to do actual school work to pass classes. I also need time for the original book (possible series) I've been working on for the past year. It's only halfway done, and I would like to get it finished as soon as possible, therefore I will not be writing FF's as in them I use second person and in my novel I use first. If you write, you know how annoying it is to hop back and forth from one style of writing to another. I've been having personal issues with my mental health, as well as my daily social issues.Also I need a job to pay for insurance.

**2: **I have been researching data on cats and character profiles for HS characters, as well as re-reading multiple chat-logs on MSPA, so it's not like I've not been doing anything for this story. I will also be in New York for a school leadership trip for a week, and will try to do some writing, if not, then at least research some more.

**3: ****This is underlined and bolded because if you're gonna read anything, it should be this. This is a thing I'd like you all to know and keep in mind.** ****************************************

** I recently received a few rather rude inboxes (the users will remain nameless) telling me that I was worthless as a writer for not updating quickly enough; or some other jabs at my "disappointing update skills" and my pride as a writer. **

**I do this for free. I write for FREE. I am not required BY LAW to write, or update, in a timely manner or fashion (though I know it is appreciated****, and I too get a little annoyed when the FF's I like don't update****.)**

**I am writing because I love to write. If my stories please you, then that's even better.**

**My job is not to make sure that you get an update every week. My job is not to PACIFY you by providing [a] new chapter(s).**

**Look, I love that you guys enjoy this story, and it makes me super-duper happy to see all your nice comments about it, and even offer advice. In fact I love that shit!**

_**I will not update just because you send me threatening, demeaning, rude, and insensitive messages.**_

**I have a life outside of writing fanfiction, please respect that.**


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